homeless
Newsletter
Credit: Matt Collamer/Unsplash
Floods expose vulnerabilities in homeless communities forced to marginal areas
In Ontario, California, severe floods in November 2022 claimed three lives and highlighted the dangers facing unhoused people living in flood-prone areas due to lack of safer shelter options.
In short:
- Unhoused people in Ontario live in flood control channels, risking exposure to deadly floods as seen in the November 2022 incident where three individuals died.
- Climate change is exacerbating extreme weather, pushing homeless communities into increasingly dangerous locations due to inadequate housing policies.
- Advocates stress the need for better integration of homeless populations into disaster planning to prevent similar tragedies.
Key quote:
“Cities and states have made it virtually impossible to stay in safer locations. And the outcome is people experiencing homelessness are at an even greater risk for extreme weather events.”
— Jesse Rabinowitz, communications director for the National Homelessness Law Center
Why this matters:
With the intersection of homelessness and climate crises, people without shelter are increasingly at risk of fatal weather events. Improved housing and emergency planning are critical to safeguard these vulnerable populations.
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Photo by Katie Musial on Unsplash
Over 6,000 Hawaiians remain homeless five months after Maui wildfires
More than 6,000 people are still without permanent long-term shelter almost five months on from the devastating 8 August wildfires that tore through the Hawaiian island of Maui.
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As Anchorage sets snowfall record, homeless residents face dire risk
Even those accustomed to enduring Alaskan winters have been tested by a recent onslaught of extreme precipitation — part of a pattern that scientists predict will worsen as the planet warms.
On this flooded island of homeless people, climate change has never been more real
For decades, even as politicians have talked about solving homelessness and building affordable housing, Bannon Island has been allowed to grow into a massive encampment, full of humans, dogs, tents, tarps, bicycles and other detritus both necessary and unnecessary for survival.
Climate change affects Central Valley’s vulnerable residents
Around the globe, the people hardest hit by these extreme weather phenomena are frontline and vulnerable communities. In the San Joaquin Valley, that includes people earning low incomes, immigrants, farmworkers, non-English speakers, and other underrepresented communities.
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Sweltering streets: Hundreds of homeless die in extreme heat
Hundreds of blue, green and grey tents are pitched under the sun’s searing rays in downtown Phoenix, a jumble of flimsy canvas and plastic along dusty sidewalks. Here, in the hottest big city in America, thousands of homeless people swelter as the summer’s triple digit temperatures arrive.
Tefere Gebre: How are we still subsidizing climate change?
Continuing to explore for and develop new reserves of coal, oil and gas would spell climate catastrophe — that’s not where Americans’ tax dollars should be going.
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